Boat Dog & Lameness Exam

We went boating yesterday and Lily got to go along. She was very unsure about this rock. Silly girl.

She tired herself out trying to watch everything at once.

 But she had a very good time.

Today I take Luc to WSU for his lameness exam. I didn't end up doing much of the training I meant to do to prepare him. I think he'll do okay though. Wish us luck!

Found a Lily

On Monday John and I and Blue were headed for the mountains to go hiking. I wasn't paying attention and suddenly John hit the brakes really hard. Good thing his car's brakes don't lock up. There was a dog in the highway running straight toward us. We pulled over and I got out and called her, and she ran to me and rolled over on her back. Then she jumped right in the car and rode in my lap to a couple nearby houses. They weren't missing a dog. There aren't many houses out there, so we turned around and went home, then drove into town to check for a microchip.

I thought she might have a dislocated hip, but on closer inspection her knee was enlarged and the entire leg was very atrophied, so it wasn't something that needed emergency treatment on a holiday.

She did have a microchip, not registered to her owner, but to a shelter in Alaska. They were closed for the holiday. I didn't reach them until Wednesday. They told me her name is Lily and they left messages for the owner, but neither of us received a call back. So I think she's been dumped.

She looks bad.

When I started feeding her she got really sick. I switched to boiled chicken and rice but she still had diarrhea for 3 days. She's better now.

 I took her to the vet and it looks like her femur was broken just above the knee, but the knee works, and she does use the leg at a walk. The break is healed. So my plan is to walk her and keep her using that leg, and do some stretches. I think I already see improvement. I'll also start her on a joint supplement.

She gets along well with the other dogs. We may keep her. But 4 dogs in a tiny house...

Huck seems fine now

Thank goodness! I got a little panicky last night, but all is well now. I'll take extra special care of him for a while, just in case. It looks like it was a sore back, knee, and maybe some gas to make it all that much worse.

Huckleberry is Hurting

I don't know for sure, but I think he hurt his back. Could be digestive though. Wish us luck and health and no pain today. We didn't get much sleep last night. He was crying and shifting around a lot & I was worrying. At first I thought it was a torsion, but the vet said the symptoms weren't right. Thank goodness. I'll take him to work with me and make sure he's well taken care of.

Lameness Training

Luc's lameness is just getting worse, and I have finally saved enough pennies to get started with a lameness exam, so I called to schedule it yesterday. I'm going to take him to the WSU vet hospital even though I hate the place, because they have the best diagnostic equipment and some darn good lameness vets. The price quote was $300 to $600. That's a pretty big range. I get it - they don't know if we'll be doing radiographs, ultrasound, nerve blocks, etc., so I guess they can't narrow it down. But still, I can't spend as much as they might want me to. WSU is notorious for wanting to do EVERYTHING, and not realizing people have limits.

I have a couple weeks to prepare, so we will be working on mastering the things we need to know to actually do the lameness exam. Trotting off from a standstill, trailer loading, very limited round pen work. How the heck do you train them to keep their foot down once you've trained them really well to pick it up? I think I need two very separate, very distinct cues. That will probably be our hardest task. And I will poke him like they will when doing nerve blocks, although not with a needle of course. I suppose I should introduce him to clippers too, and ask him to stand still with his hoof on a block.

Can you think of anything else he needs to know?

I think I'll spend today going through my unwanted tack and other junk. Maybe I can raise some more funds for him. :)

Oh, and Bob still loves his Chaffhaye!

The Moon of Making Fat

In one of my all-time favorite books, Where Rivers Change Direction, the author tells about how the Native Americans in his area call this time of year "the moon of making fat." It's time to harvest and put up food for winter, and of course eat a lot and put on some personal reserves. :)

The smoke has been so bad that it's hard to do anything outside, so I've been playing in the kitchen.

I got some raw milk from one of my co-workers. Look at all that cream! You can see the line if you look closely.

After the cream was skimmed off:

 You can do so many things with raw milk! I'm starting with an experiment, trying to make cream cheese with kefir as the starter. I wasn't sure if store bought buttermilk had any live cultures, and of course I didn't have mesophilic starter on hand. So we'll see. It ought to make something edible.

I've also been making dill pickles, pickled garlic, zucchini bread and frozen zucchini for bread later, lots and lots of elderberry syrup, with lots more elderberries to separate from their stems and freeze for later. Hmm. What else? Going to make sauerkraut soon, and planning on getting some beets to pickle, and maybe starting some kombucha. Yummm.

As for the equines, they're already fat. Except for Bob. I am trying out a product called Chaffhaye, which is baleage in small bales, as far as I can tell. It's fermented alfalfa, so it smells wonderful. Even the dogs want to eat it. Bob loves it, and so far will not let Pedro steal it. I hope he keeps it up so I don't have to separate them.

We finally had rain yesterday! The air is clear of smoke and it smells wonderful. We're going to go hiking today, even if it is supposed to rain again. Bring it on! I thought about taking Scout and riding, but it looks like he just popped a hoof abscess, so I'll leave him be.

Smoky Hike

 (I hiked with weight in the pack. Not much, and not far, but I did!)

(Pig)

Playing

Yesterday I had an unexpected lunch break at home, so I played with my horse.

He also tried on a fly mask and didn't even mind the Velcro sound. But Tonka's old fly mask was too big, so I'll have to get him a different one.

It isn't cloudy here, the white sky is smoke. It doesn't look too bad in the pictures, but it's pretty bad. At least there's no ash falling out of the sky here.

Saddle

I set the donkey saddle on Luc the other day. He didn't really love it, but he wasn't overly worried about it either. I won't cinch a saddle on for a while yet. I need to fix a couple of broken rails in my round pen first. I'll work on tightening a rope around his barrel for a while first, too. He thought that was offensive.  He's so funny. When he's unsure he gets just a little bit angry.

I found a new horse camping place recently. Definitely going there with horses soon!

We hiked almost 7 miles of the trails there, and it was really nice. Some lake views, huge train trestles, and not a soul around, although you could hear highway noise. There are a lot more trails there, and more across the highway. You could also go biking on a paved railroad grade, or swimming, boating, fishing, birdwatching. This is at Heyburn State Park just an hour from me. Pretty nice. And not on fire, which is saying a lot right now.

The trails I posted about last time are right next to a forest fire that's been burning for almost a week. No homes lost, but it's not done yet. There just isn't enough manpower and our fire is too small to get much attention right now. I think they've kept it at 1300 acres. My friend lives right near it, but luckily the wind has been blowing it away from her. She has livestock that would be very hard to move. I hope they get it out before the wind picks up tomorrow.

Speaking of livestock and fires, Bella's homeland is burning too. Over 20 wild horses died in the fire. I wish I could help save them. The BLM is planning an emergency gather, and will hold the horses and re-release them when it's safe. I guess that might be next spring, so they don't starve to death on the burnt land. 

I'm off today to help with dentistry on a posh horse ranch. It's always interesting to see how the other half live. :)

Pictures

Moonlight & donkeys

 Elderberry picking with Blue:

Scout's first moonlight ride:

What do you think this might be?

First rodeo:

A lovely ride with family:

I made pickles!